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Monday, February 22, 2016

I want to begin this mystery quilt by thanking all of you. You see... (if you read my last blog post from earlier this evening) you would know that for every quilt I design, I sew up two samples. I just love to do that! I love to see the design potential with fabric changes. But, I need to get more designs out there so I need to draw the line somewhere.

Since you all are joining me on the mysteries, then that solves the problem for me! I can see your samples in other colors..and move on. So thank you.

Now a word about mysteries and $$. I would love to give away the pieces to the mystery free forever..but people..I NEED TO COME HOME to my sick husband and little boy. I do. My dream is to be home by summer when my little boy is out of school, but I really do not see that happening..short of a HUGE miracle. So here is what I am going to do for THIS mystery. (And I am undecided what to do with future mysteries, we will test on this one.)

The pieces will be for sale in my shop as before. The pdf files of the pieces will be offered for those that ask to receive them. I will email them to you for free during the duration of the mystery only. After we have solved the mystery, then you will have to pay full price for the mystery pieces pdf. When you share around you can tell folks that they are free during the mystery only.

The pieces are not available yet (It's a mystery folks! ) The paper pieces will ship out two weeks before April 1st to International buyers and the last week in March to domestic buyers. The pdf files will not be available until April 1st.

I ask one thing of you.. those that wish to have free files... PLEASE, please, PlEaSe share in groups, blogs, and other social media. Share photos of your quilts made from my designs and tell them about Hillbilly Quilt Shop. I really, really appreciate that when you do.

NOW...lets get going! I've already started a page up top so posts for the new mystery can be found there.

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The name of this mystery is "Center of Attention".

It is based off of one of my own divided hexagon designs (ahhhhs). It's just..supersized a bit.

The quilt finishes as a hexagon.. 36" from point to point not including borders.

It only has 55/57 pieces, which isn't alot when it comes to English paper piecing. (The 55/57 will be explained someday..wait for it. )

There are fussy cut sections, but there doesn't have to be.

Nothing has a kaleidoscope effect so it isn't necessary that anything be fussy cut. There are some that I believe would look better fussy cut, but they are not necessary at all!

Fabric requirements are a bit easier to explain in this quilt by showing you my choices. I think you will enjoy looking for your selections.

First of all you need to pick your Leading Role.

Your entire quilt will be centered around this fabric choice. You need a large print or even a portion of a panel. The piece needs to be 13" square. Here is my leading role (although it will be chopped down a bit.)

After you have chosen your leading roll, you need to choose Co-Stars from the same fabric line if possible. These Co-Stars still have pretty big roles in our mystery and would be best as large prints. You will need 6 each of 11" fussy cut sections. (I KNOW You all will have major questions with this one..11" square or what? Well if I told you that it would kill the mystery. But if you know you need to cut 11" from one side to the next then you will also know that you need to repeat that 6 times and that is all you need to know !)
These aren't my exact co-stars (cuz mine are all cut up and basted already and I can't show you) but these are very similar. I did use a purple floral. You will note the colors are very similar as the Leading Role. Try to keep yours in the same color family/same fabric line as well.

Next you need your Supporting Actors. One just couldn't pull off a good performance without good supporting actors. You need to pull a light color and a dark color from your leading role to be the colors for your supporting actors. You won't need much. Just 1/4 a yard of each. But these would also be good choices later for borders and binding if you want to pick up extra. (Remember it finishes as a hexagon 36" tip to tip.)

Here are my Supporting Actors. I chose to pull the purple from my Leading Role, so I have a dark and a light purple.

Next on the playbill we need the Minor Actor. This one has a very small, yet very important roll. All you need is an 1/8 of a yard, but once again this would be a fabulous piece to use in the border or binding.
The Minor Actor needs to be similar in color to the Leading Role and Co-Stars but it needs to stand out on it's own too. The best idea would be to choose a print from the same fabric line as the others. Note on my choice, while it is using the same color family, it stands out on its own and is not too close in color to the Supporting Actors..this is VERY important:

Finally, we have our Background Crew. These guys need to be a different color but we don't want them to clash. You actually could fussy cut these into 6 pieces that are 11" (again) plus you need about another 1/4 yd for some smaller background roles. (I was able to pull these smaller pieces from the discards of my fussy cuts. Now you need to be really careful about these fussy cuts. THEY ARE IN THE BACKGROUND. You don't want them big or bold. Just something nice..and backgroundish, in a different color. A smaller print from the same line would work.

Here is a fussy cut from my Background Crew. See how it's not bold and its a different color than the rest of the quilt? Very VERY important!

Oh my gosh, in typing all this out, I really REALLY want to pull fabric to make another. I need to sit on my hands.

Do you know I love fabric play? Yes, yes I do.
Good thing I work at the grocery store in the morning so that I can have time to get over my temptation. Oh wait! I have a peacock left over... oh my goodness I am running to my stash right now! He's a great Leading Role, don't you think?

A RE-CAP OF FABRIC REQUIREMENTS now that it is explained:

First choose your LEADING ROLE and it needs to be 13" square.

You need 6 CO-STARS that are 11". They do not have to be fussy cut but would look nice if they were.

You need 1/4 yard each of two different SUPPORTING ACTORS. One light and one dark. Pull the colors from the Leading role. (Also good choices for borders and binding).

You need just 1/8 of a yard for your MINOR ACTOR but this is an excellent candidate for a border as well.

Finally, you need 6 more fussy cut sections that are 11", plus some scraps for the BACKGROUND CREW. These do not have to be fussy cut, but they do need to be a different color than the main colors in the rest of the quilt. If you don't fussy cut you will only need 1/2 yard.

Of course at the end you will need batting and backing, size determined on your personal choice of borders.

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I am so excited for this Mystahhhry to begin because I think you will have fun choosing your fabric and I think that because it is large pieces, you will complete it quickly, so it will be very fun for you.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

A few days ago I posted my finished Shindig quilt on Facebook and am overwhelmed by the response to it. Thank you everyone!!

When I named the pattern "Shindig" it is because of all the potential for fussy cut characters to dance around that pattern. For every pattern that I design and sew up, I almost always sew up two samples. I just cannot stand letting go of one until I've seen it in different fabric to see what it would do! On the Shindig Mystahhhry I actually started with an Ocean quilt but sat it aside when I saw where I was going with the peacocks. For now the ocean is tucked away with my other Atlantis quilt for 'someday'.

I've been accused of falling out of love with my original Atlantis quilt but that is not the case. I just simply do not have the time ever to complete them. Hand sewing, then moving to hand quilting literally takes hours upon hours upon hours. If you know me well, then you know this is something I do not have. And since my "thing" is design..then once the design is there, the quilt has to be set aside so that I may move on to the next design. This has beeen really tough for me to deal with because I HATE ufo's. Once I sent away every UFO I had. Now I've got 5-6 again and I am trying to learn patience. I won't always work as much as I do now and they will be ready for me when I can pick them up again. In the meantime... I move on to the next design!

ANYWAY.. about the Shindig. Here are a few snapshots of the Ocean one from way back when I was still in design stage..way before I ever introduced it as a mystery quilt. I cannot wait for the 'someday' to finish it because I want it to be as dazzling as my Peacocks turned out to be. It is actually much further along than these photos, I think I only have about three of the last three sides to sew on the outside edge but I didn't have a photo handy. That's ok..you can be surprised by it someday!

If you've not been around Facebook then I guess you haven't seen my peacock finish. Now this really isn't finished at all. It's just glued down at this point. I'm actually going to film some videos about technique. (Really, I am! I have already prewarned my son--camera man-- they are coming!!)

I also need to make borders and I plan to piece them so this is not the end of Mr. Peacock. But as you can see he is really strutting his stuff hoping to catch the attention of some ladies at the Shindig.

So while it's time to say goodbye to the Shindig mystery, a new one begins soon.
In fact, at midnight look for a post of fabric requirements.
It's a much easier mystery this time, I promise.

And p.s. The mystery page will remain on my blog as long as there is space to do so.
Also, if would like to make your own Shindig, the pieces for the star portion are available on my website. You can find them here.